“My computer has recently started crashing on me after roughly 20 minutes in any game. I’ve had this rig for over three months and have gamed a lot on it prior to the recent crashing issues and I’ve run numerous tests on the memory and power supply and they both check out so I’m thinking it’s heat related.

It has been quite warm where I live lately and these crashes have coincided with the warmest of the weather, not to mention I have been able to game for longer periods of time by cranking the a/c all the way, putting the computer closer (live in an apartment with just a window mounted a/c) to the a/c itself and turning all the fans to high…. this of course is a pain but is all evidence towards the problem being heat… so with that in mind how do I cool my system down?”

Answer from 50crckt51

“I agree with your assessment of the situation, may I suggest that you explore purchasing a chipset cooler rather than another rather mundane heatsink? The Northbridges of many modern boards are going to be put to the test, as the demands of the newer game technologies seek out new ways to punish them! Besides the chipset cooler I would also advise the acquisition of a tube of Arctic Silver thermal compound along with the companion cleaning kit. ”

Answer from NoOther

“I would first check on your graphics card temp at full load and see what its doing. Make sure that the fan on the graphics card is running and is clear with nothing obstructing it. I have heard of several people have similar problems and they were almost all related to overheating graphics cards. ”